Chinese CultureInfo

Question

Chinese CultureInfo is "zh" (zh-CN and others). But I can't find what does "zh" stand for?

Answer 1

The Chinese for "Chinese" is "zhongwen" (this is a generalisation, of course; for more, see Wikipedia).

Answer 2

According to Wikipedia Zhongwen (中文) is the term for Chinese's unified writing system. This is the likely derivation, especially given that while the code is "zh" in 639-1, it's "zho" in 639-2/T, according to a 639.2 FAQ.

Answer 3

"ZH" means zhongwen the Chinese writing.

"Zhong" means centre or middle. It's a contraction of Zhongguo : china, the empire of middle.

"Wen" means writing or character

Chinese characters are named "hanzi" : Han characters. Han is the largest ethnic group in both China.